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Realistic Photomontages by Philip Kanwischer

Philip Kanwischer is a 24 year old artist working out of Calgary AB who graduated from the Alberta College of Art and Design in photography in 2015 and received the Board of Governors Award upon graduation.

His intriguing work deals with nuances of conservation and preservation. For two years now he has been building a portfolio of work for his project titled “Inhospitably Ours”. He creates realistic photomontages that depict the ethical flux of humans’ interaction with the wild. In a climate of continuous change and uncertainty, at what point do we stop trying to control nature and its inhabitants? Philip does not view himself as a wildlife photographer in the context of Paul Nicklen, or people alike. He is not a documentary photographer, he is an artist. Philip’s images tend to read as ‘straight photography’ at a first glance, and that is fully intended, it is after a longer gaze that the layers, obscurities and commentary within his photographs come to light. Although photographing wildlife makes up a large portion of his work, it is a practice he struggles with ethically. Poaching animals with his subjective gaze. Photography is a medium he compares to wood burning, beauty caused by combustion. But despite this internal struggle, Philip has found common ground within nature and preserves the dialogue of his interactions and pursuit of understanding his place within the vastness of the wild.